The World Laughs With You
by Queen of Sneaks
Summary: Laugh, and the world laughs with you; cry, and you cry alone. When Percy finds out how soon he'll die, he does both.


**Finally kicked writers' block's butt, I hope. Completed for the Greco-Roman War challenge. Prompts used: indecisive and 1499 word count (on MS Word).  
Warning: Character death**

When he first hears the news, Percy laughs. It's the irony of it – that he should die by something so trivial, so ordinary, when he had battled monsters and gods and lived to tell the tale. He laughs in the office as the doctor looks on in sympathy. He laughs until tears are streaming down his face and landing on his favorite shirt in a dark pattern around the collar.

At that point, he stops laughing and simply cries.

The son of Poseidon had stared death straight in the face too many times to count. He had been to the Underworld and back, he had been to _Tartarus_ and back, and yet at the age of seventeen, Percy would succumb to meningitis and sepsis.

Obviously, he had a chance of surviving – this _was_ the modern world after all – but how could he seek proper treatment when demigods needed him? Gaea's fall hadn't ended the war on giants; it had only added fuel to the fire. Already, Camp Half-Blood was weakening under frequent attacks. How could Percy, their _leader_, sit in a hospital bed while kids younger than him were being killed? How could he wait for transfusions while the blood of innocent demigods watered the strawberry fields?

Carefully, Percy thanks the doctor and walks out of the room before she has a chance to continue.

* * *

He doesn't tell anyone except his mother. She pretends everything is normal, but he can see the new creases between her eyes, and he hears her hushed conversations with Paul. His stepfather is much less subtle, eyeing Percy with sympathy and always speaking in a soft voice. He tells Percy not to worry about school. Percy nods along with him and tunes him out, focusing instead on the rise and fall of his mother's shoulders as she bites back tears.

When he can't handle the strained atmosphere any longer, Percy kisses her goodbye one night and slips away.

* * *

Chiron isn't extremely surprised when he comes back to camp early; instead, he grins and welcomes him with open arms. Percy smiles in return, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"All is well?" the centaur asks as he walks Percy to Cabin 3.

Percy scuffs his heel against the gravel path, sending rocks skittering in different directions. He readjusts the straps of his bag and rubs at the ache in his neck before answering, "Yeah. Mom said she's seen a few hellhounds and empousai up there, but none of them have gone after her or Paul."

Chiron responds with an affirmative hum, but his mind seems elsewhere. He gazes down at Percy with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. For a moment, Percy tenses, but Chiron merely bids him farewell and turns to leave.

* * *

Not many of his antics surprise Annabeth now that he's been with her for so long, but when Percy knocks at the door to the Athena cabin, her mouth falls open in astonishment. A fresh cut marks her forehead, and her hair had fallen out of its ponytail. Annabeth sits in shock for a brief second before jumping upright and flinging her arms around her boyfriend.

"Percy!" she cries, nearly bowling him over.

For the first time since the visit to the doctor's, Percy lets out an actual laugh. He wraps his arms around her waist and presses his face against the top of her head.

He opens his mouth to reply when Annabeth cuts in, "Why are you here so early?"

"I thought I might be needed. Plus, Paul set it up so I could get my courses done faster." It's only a half lie. Percy pulls back a bit and brushes his fingers over her brow, near where the scratch was starting to scab over. "It looks like I was right."

"A manticore got into the camp," Annabeth explains as she sweeps her hair back and wipes at the scab.

"Is everyone okay?"

She locks eyes with Percy and doesn't say a word.

Sighing, Percy amends, "Let me rephrase that: How many people were hurt?"

"Five severely wounded, two dead."

"Who?"

"Jamie Martinez and Hannah Roberts." Annabeth rubs her temples, then leans over to grasp Percy's hand in her own.

Percy gives the two of them a moment of silence before asking, "Wanna take a walk?"

Grinning, Annabeth tugs him forward. He stumbles, caught unawares, and for a moment the whole world spins and blurs into one huge mix of colors. Percy extends a hand to stop his fall, but Annabeth has her arms around him before he reaches the ground. His vision doesn't stop spinning until he takes several deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" Annabeth demands, not letting him go.

Percy responds, "Just got a little dizzy."

* * *

It doesn't take long for Annabeth to pick up on his worsening condition. Percy can see it in himself, as well – headaches become more frequent, his neck and shoulders start to ache, and his reflexes aren't nearly as acute as they used to be. He still doesn't tell Annabeth.

Chiron keeps him from fighting in most of the skirmishes. For a while, Percy plays it off as a coincidence, but when he's on the sidelines for six fights in a row, he can't lie to himself any longer.

Percy silently vows to join the next battle, no matter the cost. People need him.

"Percy, are you feeling alright?"

Almost lazily, he wraps his arm around her. "No. I'm sorry you have to find out this way, but I'm a werewolf," he deadpans.

"I'm serious," Annabeth grumbles, knocking her head against Percy's shoulder. She pulls her feet out of the water and tucks them against the sand.

A light breeze ruffles his hair as Percy looks out at the Long Island Sound. For once, the camp is peaceful enough for the chirping of crickets to be heard. The tranquility is too perfect to ruin with serious conversation.

Annabeth turns to glare at him when he doesn't respond. "You've been confused and indecisive and irritable, and not _yourself_, and I don't know how to help. Did something happen with your mother?"

After a moment, Percy blurts out, "I'm sick," and the tone of his voice is enough to make Annabeth pause.

"Sick?" she asks, shifting to face him fully. Cautiously, she rests the back of her hand against his cheek, her fingers like ice against Percy's skin. "Percy, you're burning up! You should-"

Shouts in the distance cut her off, and a shock of fire brightens the night sky. Both demigods immediately turn toward the noise. Annabeth springs up and reaches for the new dagger at her hip, flinging out a hand to stop Percy from getting up as well.

"Go back to your cabin!" she orders over her shoulder, already sprinting toward the commotion.

Percy counts to ten before getting to his feet and bolting after her. He pulls Riptide out of his pocket and uncaps it, dodging around trees to get to the fight. A scream, high and piercing, cuts through the rest of the clatter, and Percy forces his feet to move faster.

When he finally arrives at the battle, he can barely hear himself think. Towering over burning trees, a drakon rears its head and lets out another jet of flame. A nearby tree goes up in flames, nearly burning him to a crisp. Percy coughs as he inhales the acrid smoke, ducking away and covering his face with his shirt. Several demigods stand in a clump behind a fallen tree; Percy spots Annabeth gesticulating and shouting, and he steers clear of the group. Instead, he turns toward the drakon.

Moving swiftly, Percy sprints over to a boulder and ducks behind it, pressing his back against the cool surface of the rock. He takes a couple deep breaths, heartbeat speeding up. Then, with a glance at the drakon over the boulder, Percy moves out. While the monster is occupied by another demigod, Percy gets close enough to search for chinks in its armor-like scales.

He hurries up and down the length of the drakon. Ducking and dodging, Percy manages to stay out if its line of vision. Already, his sword is starting to feel heavier in his grasp. His heart echoes in his ears much too quickly, and he feels the world start to spin again. Stumbling, Percy falls to his knees. A sweep of the drakon's tail sends him sprawling into the dirt a few feet away.

"Percy!" Annabeth shouts when she finally catches sight of him. "You idiot! You're not fit to fight!"

Her voice sounds far off, and Percy's head pounds like never before. The flickering light of the flames doesn't help at all, and Percy can't bring himself to get up. He rolls over, groaning, and reaches out to find his sword.

He opens his eyes to see the drakon bearing down on him. Frozen, Percy can do nothing but watch as beast opens its mouth above him and strikes.

In his last moments, Percy laughs.


End file.
